Quakertown prepares for new parking meters, new rates

QUAKERTOWN, Pa. - Quakertown Borough Council will consider setting the new rate for its new parking meters at its regular meeting on Aug. 2.

At its workshop meeting Monday night, council was largely in agreement to program the new meters to accept a rate of 25 cents per half hour and a $4 minimum for credit cards. The current parking meter rate is 25 cents an hour, but the proposed rate is still less compared to some other municipalities in Bucks County, said Borough Manager Scott McElree.

It will take between six and eight weeks to receive the electronic timer mechanisms for the meters once council votes on the rates next month, McElree said. The borough already has the posts and meter heads.

The first 20 of the new meters will be installed on Branch Street, followed by installations on Broad Street. About 100 new meters are expected to be installed by mid-fall, McElree said.

The first phase will involve the installation of 150 meters; up to 300 will eventually be installed. Each of the new meters costs $650. Quakertown’s old parking meters are obsolete and replacement parts are no longer available, McElree said.

In other matters, council will also consider at its Aug. 2 meeting retaining the services of Obermayer, a Philadelphia-based law firm, for contracts, labor relations and arbitration. The quoted fee, which can be cancelled at any time, was $295 an hour, $225 an hour for representation by associate counsel.

Council Member Lisa Gaier, an attorney, called the quoted rate “incredibly good” for a Philadelphia law firm.

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